Hallelujah
In tonight's line-up it's been Culture Club, 80s power ballads and this cover:
(yes I know I should have shot it sideways. Sorry!)
after I shot this I played the original really loudly
he stopped for a minute
... and now he's playing Alanis Morissette.
Last one goes the hope
The other week during one of our rare downtimes around the apartment Ty and I inhaled some home-made nachos and kicked back to watch Exit Through the Gift Shop on Netflix.
My old roommate was super into street art (and even went as far as making his own stencils -something that really inspired me) and one of the ways that we bonded when we first met was over a shared love of Banksy's work.
I didn't get to check out his art show in Bristol, but I stalked the web for information and pictures, he's a complete genius.
I've had a subscription to Juxtapoz for a few years and read a lot of local 'zines and G Spot Love about art but it wasn't until I saw this film (which is fantastic, meta, insightful and hilarious, make sure you see it if you haven't already) that I really took an active interest in street art beyond the big names like Shepard Fairey and Invader (whose 8-bit art makes me think of my friend Skot aka Mr. Ghosty).
As a result I've become inspired to find really cool street art around #Winnipeg and to start flexing my personal artistic muscle more!
Not as street art, I don't think, but I've always been interested in collage, découpage and stuff like that. I've always been inspired by artists like Matisse, Rotella and Felipe Consalvos (whose work you can see below)
This summer I'm going to really push the envelope with my art. Maybe I'll plan a painting and picnic date with Ty at some point once it gets warmer? (That is, assuming we have the time!)Who knows, maybe I'll even be brave enough to actually share some of it here!
Booksmart devil
Just finished watching the Leader's Debate on CBC just now... gotta jet to a meeting about some super-cool stuff I'm getting involved with, but here are my thoughts on it as it happened via my Twitter feed.
- (retweeted) @zachbussey Stephen Harper's hair is getting into Donald Trump territory.
- Seems like @jacklayton has been studying Obama's speeches. He's unbelievably well-spoken.#Cdnpoli #cdnvotes
- I love watching Gilles Duceppe get all fired up! He's so angry#Cdnpoli #cdnvotes
- Why can't Harper look at ANYONE? #Cdnpoli #cdnvotes #debate
- Loving the sassy Michael Ignatieff hand on hip! #Cdnpoli #cdnvotes #debate
- @jacklayton making awesome points about equal representation and the Senate #Cdnpoli#cdnvotes #debate
- (retweeted) @tidewaters Electoral reform!!! Go, Jack!!!
- I'm so stoked for the French Debates later this week, I want to see Duceppe kick ass
- @jacklayton bringing up his yellow fever!
- Whether you love or hate the #NDP, @jacklayton is kicking ass this#debate! I'm so impressed
- RT @Darcy_Lussier he isn't even looking at the voters, he looks like he's looking at the floor
- En français... Well played, Mr Ignatieff
- "These statements aren't true because I say they're not true" - Stephen Harper #misquote
- RT @christineestima Harper doesnt favour multiculturalism, he favours rich foreign diplomats and oil tycoons
- RT @RoseBeerGoggles I'm taking a drink every time Harper says "that's simply not true." So I'm watching these debates totally shmammered. Thanks guy!
- "We respect every party" says Harper. What a hypocrite
- Ignatieff just cleaning up on justice and crime, we're not the US!
- "Mr Harper is soft on crime even in his own office"... You just KNOW Duceppe has been waiting to use that one! Zing!
- Oh totally, it's palpable RT “@mr_mulligan: is it just me or does Harper have the knob cranked to maximum smug tonight
- RT brundle_fly CRIME: Harper's sweatin' like Rob Ford at a Mexican Hot Sauce convention.
- That's been a #fail" on this while thing. Omg @jacklayton ILU!
- RT christineestima Did jack just say "bling" and "hashtag fail" in the breath?!!!!! I love him
- @jacklayton just KICKING ASS with those jabs at Harper
- RT zachbussey Jack Layton, Prime Minister of Twitter.
- So impressed on @jacklayton's views on crime. Bringing up violence against women, yeah!
- Here we go on Health Care...
- Stephen Harper shouldn't be talking about "accountability"
- Thank you @jacklayton for bringing up privatization in the health industry!
- RT @christineestimaSupport the stache! RT @stilez: Layton has impressed me most tonight on points raised & made. It's the power of the stache #SupportTheStache
- I love how Stephen Harper keeps telling me what I think about everything
What did you guys think? Did you watch?
My little crew at home was cheering hard!
GO JACK!!
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People can say whatever they want about the winters in Winnipeg (and I'd probably agree) but our in-between seasons are absolutely gorgeous, and today is one of those fine Spring days.
It's sunny, there's a slight breeze and I can't help but start thinking about one of my favourite things that happens each spring: March of the Robots!
You may remember my jaunt with Santacon this past December, so you know there are few things I love more than making costumes and being ridiculous (not to mention it's a pub crawl so you know it's going to be an adventure!)Needless to say I am eagerly anticipating the March, in fact the title of this post is my name -Alyson- in binary!
Here are some shots I took from last years MoTR:
Ty, our fearless leader!
My steampunk cyborg costume had retractable wings -how awesome is that?!
The crew who met at The Forks at the beginning of the march (the location changes every year, as does the pubs/bars we hit up on our adventure -we like to keep things interesting)
As you can see there are all sorts of different robots who come out to make the trip with us! The best kinds of costumes are the ones that are hand-made, but if you're pressed for time pick up some blinking lights and tin foil and come along anyway!This year the March is May 28th, and you can keep up with all the info on the website, FaceBook page, and Twitter feed @Robotmarch -whichever way works best for you.
I'll be posting up progress pictures of my costume here as well as on my Twitter. I'm so torn over what to do this year and anxious to start building!
Change is gonna do me good
This is what I had for lunch yesterday. It's called the "Osborne Branch" crepe and it has chicken and bacon and cheese and Ranch dressing and all the stuff I don't usually eat which is why it was extra-good
and it was from this place called Kawaii Crepe and I'm in love with it
later on in the eve Ty went to the Planetarium 'cause he was VJing for this neat party so Jabez came over and we had 
after a jaunt to Tavern United for eats and more beers
after a jaunt to Tavern United for eats and more beersand a ridiculous story about a cat
we joined Cenquist, British Adrian his gf Rhonda and our latest addition to our little Twitter family Kenquist for more Half Pints at Lo Pub
where we debated heavy topics like politics
and The Internet
and watched Kenquist fail at trying to pick up some chick
because I told him that girls in white pants are slutty
which didn't help his chances
but is a statement I still stand by.
Eventually we all parted ways and they went to a hip-hop burlesque show (what?!) and Jabez and I continued on to the show Ty was doing: Yuri's Night: World Space Party where there was lots of beer, free pizza and space-type stuff
I spent way too much of the evening half-assedly hitting on the girl dressed up like Leeloo but can you blame me?
There was tons of cool stuff to do besides get yr drank on and eat free 'zah
like building your own race car out of little plastic parts and racing it
a mirror room with lasers that smelled like weed
visuals in the Planetarium from MrGhosty and FLAME WAR (aka Ty) and music courtesy of
Freaky Alien
Dial-Up
Lebeato
THE SHAKE
plus another bunch of djs in the main area with all the cool stuff so you could jam out while you learned about space
The Winnitron (!!!)
giant yellow things that let you talk to someone across the whole room
a thing that lets you make little tornadoes
movies about space
and a thing that lets you pretend to be on a spaceship:
Freaky Alien
Dial-Up
Lebeato
THE SHAKE
plus another bunch of djs in the main area with all the cool stuff so you could jam out while you learned about space
The Winnitron (!!!)
giant yellow things that let you talk to someone across the whole room
a thing that lets you make little tornadoes
movies about space
and a thing that lets you pretend to be on a spaceship:
you would have to be stupid to not love space after this evening.We'd build a tree fort in our yard
One of the party leaders is the New Democratic Partys Jack Layton, who I think is fabulous.
Not just because he's a great public speaker, got drunk at The Olympics with his wife, rides his bike to work every day and is all-around awesome
but he also knows how to poke fun at himself
personally I'd prefer a Prime Minister who isn't a sociopathic robot.
Late at night the feelings rise to the surface
Ty commented yesterday that we don't use our living room anymore and I guess that's true.In the past few weeks we've eaten dinner in there once, watched one awesome movie, and I defragged for an hour playing Fallout: New Vegas.
Right now is the season of six-to-eight-hour sessions glued to our respective computers.
He's working on visuals for the shows he's VJing at this month and I'm hammering, hammering, hammering away at this ridiculous Philosophy paper.
I'm at 10 of my required 12 pages but after seven hours of writing and referencing and cross-referencing Kierkegaard and Camus I've moved onto Sartre and my brain is mush.
I'll go over 12 pages for sure but I might loose my sanity in the process.
Two exams to go.
Then I am getting really, really, shitfaced drunk.
You make my dreams come true
I'll tell you guys a dirty little secret of mine:
I'm the worst for getting my hair cut. It grows really quickly and I always need to get so much cut off and trimmed and it's such a hassle that I always push the envelope until my hair is out of control.
Luckily for me last week WagJag Winnipeg had a sweet deal for a wash, cut, style, highlight, deep conditioning treatment and manicure for a steal at fabulous VIXIN Salon and honestly I couldn't say no.
Let's just put it out there: the aesthetic of a salon is really important. I've gotten haircuts at some less-than-stellar locations and let me tell you, appearances aren't deceiving! Needless to say I was impressed with the way the salon looked from the start.There was even a super-cute little Shi Tzu puppy running around -adorable!
Since I'm bad (student poor) and dye my hair straight black all the time obviously I wasn't getting any highlights, but they were sweet enough to re-dye my hair a gorgeous, shiny new ebony black for me -thanks ladies!My stylist was unbelievable, she was so perky and chatty and really made the experience so much better, honestly I'm super neurotic and getting my hair cut really stresses me out, but she made it such a great experience and didn't even judge me when my eyes had an allergic reaction to my contact solution while I was there!
She dyed me and cut my hair like a pro, totally ignoring the fact that I looked like some sort of red-eyed monster the whole time. I wish I'd snagged her name but I think she gave me the wrong card (if you read this, hit me up with your name doll!)
Anyway, due to my dye issues and the fact that I love my longer hair, there wasn't much in the way to be done other than pamper myself and enjoy it.
However, I did make one slight adjustment:
Bangs!
I haven't had bangs like these in ages! Looking at that photo I feel very Gage-esque with them!
Needless to say it was a great experience, and a great way to wrap up my week in a Friday before going out with my friends. Unfortunately the manicurist was gone by the time my hair was done, but now that just means I get a free one when I go back -success!
Eyes wide open
Hitler can't get Folk Fest tickets from Ryan Helbren on Vimeo.
One of these years I'm going to get my shit together and actually go to Folk Fest.
Until then, it's just me and Hitler freaking out.
